Quartz or marble nails are so good for that ice queen, winter look – also great if you're working in a conservative field, because your nails will look nude at the first glance. Also great?! It's really, really easy to do – I mean, you can draw a scraggly line, right?! And very likely you have all the supplies already at home. So give this easy quartz nails tutorial a go!

You need…

  • A sheer pink nail polish, base and topcoat
  • EITHER white acrylic paint and water OR white nail polish and nail polish thinner/acetone
  • A very thin and not so thin brush
  • I used L'Oreal Omega Grow (basecoat), a-england Iseult and Anny nude, essence the gel nailpolish in wild white ways, bipa nail tattoo liner Nr. 2 white, p2 nail polish thinner, Rico acrylic paint in Titanium White and Glisten & Glow HK Girl Fast Drying & Super Shiny Clear Topcoat.

We're going for…

easy quatz or marble nails
What we're aiming for!

A layered look with dimension. During the process it will look crappy, but this is one of those pieces of nail art you can't mess up. Everyone can paint scraggly lines on a nail. If you use acrylic paint, the whole process will be quick, because acrylic paint dries very fast and you can almost immediately paint over it with your nail polish. Also, if you mess up somehow with acrylic paint, you can wash it right off with a bit of soapy water!

I've seen this done with a toothpick or somesuch, but I always end up scratching my base layer with that. If you're very light-handed, you can totally do it, though!

For brushes, you can totally use thin brushes like eyeliner brushes. The best option is a slightly bushier brush and a very, very thin one.

If you abhor pink, you can totally do a grey/black/white marble look with this – just use grey/black shades for your lines, and a white nail polish for your layers.

Step one

quartz nails how to
It will look messy – don't worry about that!

Start with your base coat. After that's dry, thin either your white nail polish with thinner or acetone, or your acrylic paint with a bit of water. Choose your bigger brush and paint one or two wide swipes over your nail. Dry your brush on a tissue and go over the stripes you just painted, removing the inner, wet part of the paint. The outlines of the stripes you painted now show up much sharper than the inner part. Repeat on all nails.

Step two

quartz nails for beginners
Second step! Note that it looks the better the thinner the scraggly lines are.

Choose your thin brush and paint thin, sharp, straggly lines on your nails. Dry your brush on the tissue and remove the inner portion of your stripes, so that only the outlines remain. Work quickly, because those thin lines dry super quick. Repeat on all nails.

Step three

nail art for beginners
For my first coat of nail polish I used the very pale Iseult by a-england.

Paint a thin layer of your pink nail polish on each nail. If you're using nail polish for your swipes and lines, be careful not to smudge them and let the brush 'float' over the nail, not dragging it hard over your design.

Step four

winter nail art ideas
Remember, if you're using acrylic paint, you can easily correct mistakes with a bit of water and a q-tip!

Wait until the polish is dry(ish) (firm to a careful touch), and repeat steps one to three.

Step five

easy and quick nail art ideas
Don't worry about the polishes pooling everywhere – just take a thin brush dipped in acetone and run it around your nails! (I used a coat of anny nude as my last coat to give it a bigger hint of pink.)

Wait until the polish is somewhat dry and seal with a topcoat. Use a brush and acetone to clean up your nails and admire your design!